History YMMV / Memento

* HoYay: During the extended WhamLine, when Teddy [[spoiler:shows Leonard the picture of himself]], he says that he (paraphrased) [[spoiler:"just wanted to see that smile again"]], which is vague, but at the very least adds [[IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy yet another]] possibility to the [[ManipulativeBastard list]] [[CowboyCop of]] [[ProfessionalKillers possible]] [[TrueCompanions motives]] for his actions.

** [[spoiler:Leonard crosses this when he decides to consciously forget the truth about what happened and makes it seem as if Teddy was the one who killed his wife, just so he would still feel a sense of purpose. This in itself becomes rather blurry depending on just how you interpret [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Teddy's character]] and whether or not what he said was actually true.]]

** A meta example, as the movie provides one of its own. Natalie, for the first viewing of the movie [[spoiler:comes off as a manipulative, evil bitch]], but on the second viewing [[spoiler: all of her actions become immensely more justified when you realize that she knew from the beginning the protagonist had murdered her boyfriend. At the same, she also seems to grow closer to Leonard when she learns more about his past. She even sleeps with him, although it's ambiguous whether she's doing so out of spite or to replace her boyfriend.]]

* HoYay: During the extended WhamLine, when Teddy [[spoiler: shows Leonard the picture of himself]], he says that he (paraphrased) [[spoiler: "just wanted to see that smile again"]], which is vague, but at the very least adds [[IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy yet another]] possibility to the [[ManipulativeBastard list]] [[CowboyCop of]] [[ProfessionalKillers possible]] [[TrueCompanions motives]] for his actions.

** [[spoiler: Subverted with Natalie. At first, she seems like a complete ManipulativeBitch, but as it turned out, she had good reason for doing what she did.]]
** [[spoiler: Leonard crosses this when he decides to consciously forget the truth about what happened and makes it seem as if Teddy was the one who killed his wife, just so he would still feel a sense of purpose. This in itself becomes rather blurry depending on just how you interpret [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Teddy's character]] and whether or not what he said was actually true.]]

** Sammy’s story, especially if you know or ''are'' someone with a condition that impairs one’s judgement so badly.

** Another is [[spoiler:whether Lenny really killed his wife or it's just another of Teddy's lies]] is left up to the audience, as there's evidence for each. There's also [[spoiler:whether or not Teddy being killed will stop his killing spree.]] And probably the most poignant one. Is Lenny a victim, being manipulated by Teddy to be a hired gun, who frees himself from Teddy's influence at the end of the movie? Or is Lenny just a serial killer with anterograde amnesia who just wants a purpose in life, even if it means deluding himself? The second has more weight than it initially appears, if one wonders what kind of life Lenny will/can have if he gets away with it.

* WhatAnIdiot: Teddy, knowing what he knows about the protagonist's facts concerning the case, and knowing that [[spoiler:his own real name is John G.]], why he went within a hundred miles of this guy can at best be chalked up to [[spoiler:greedy recklessness]] and less charitably [[spoiler:just a death wish]]. At least he used an alias. Still, it's a bad idea.

** It was one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2001 and is frequently ranked as one of the best films of the 2000s, yet it didn't even receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination.

** It was one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2001 and is frequently ranked as one of the best films of [[TurnOfTheMillennium the 2000-2009 decade]], yet it didn't even receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: